Stapling machine



June 13, 1944. H. s. HELLER 2,351,044

STAPLING MACHINE Filed' June 25, 1942 Fifi-I INVENTOR ATTORNEYJ Patented June 13, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STAPLING M AonrNE Harold S. Heller, Cleveland Heights, Ohio Appucation June 25, 1942, yserial No. 448,360

1 claim. (ci. 41-45) This invention relates to stapling machines, and more particularly to the small portable hand operated devices, lsometimes called tackera which are used for securing one part to another.

More particularly, the invention relates to staplers used for securing an elongated article to a supporting. surface upon which it is to be mounted. For example, the stapler may be used to attach a round, square or other shaped rod or bar made of wood, metal, glass or the like, to the surface or a piece of any material into which the staple legs may penetrate. A helical or other coiled bed or other spring thus may be attached by staples to a wooden supporting base, and other like or analogous uses will occur to those skilled ln the arti. Y

Oneobject of the invention is to provide an improved stapling machine of the character described, 'which employs ordinary commercial staples such as are readily available upon the open market, and which machine not'only drives or pushes the staple legs into the base or support, but also limits their penetration to less than their total length and deforms their upper exposed portions in such manner as to more firmly anchor the secured rod or bar to the base and prevent its movement thereon.

A further object is to provide a stapling machine which limits the penetration of the legs of the staples driven thereby to the depth of the article being mounted or secured by such staples, with the result that there is no liability of crushing such article, even though such article is a fragile glass tube.

A further object ,is to provide a stapling machine embodying improved driving means for the individual staples, said driving means deforming both the leg and crown portions ofthe staples in such manner as to more closely mold them to the shape 'of the articles vbeing mounted on or secured to the supports therefor, thus augmenting the usual holding eiect.

Still another object is to provide an improved stapling machine embodying a driving tool having spaced driving. arms arranged to. engage only the end portions of the staple crown and separated by a recess at leastas wide and, as deep as the article to be mounted or secured, whereby said. tool. in driving the staple, not only causes the staple legs to enter the base or support, but

also more or less molds the staple t0 the mounted or secured article and thus improves the holding effect. f

Another obiect of thev invention'is to provide an Aizmiroved stapler of this kindin which the stapler nose, which is applied to the article to be mounted or secured, is specially shaped to properly orientate the staple driving tool with respect to said article and thus insure proper application of the staple to such article.

Further .objects of the invention are in part obvious and in part will appear more in detail hereinafter.

.In the drawing, Fig. .l is a side elevation Vof one form of stapling machine embodying the invention, parts being broken away to expose interior parts; Fig. 2 is an end elevation from the right in Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a detail bottom plan view; Fig. 4 is a detail view, on a larger scale, showing the stapler applied to the articles to be mounted or secured and ready for operation, the view being on the line 4 4, Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a similar view, illustrating the article to be mounted or secured, a staple, and the operating end of the staple driving tool, with the driving operation partly completed; Fig. 6 is a similar View, illustrating completion of the staple driving operation; and Fig. '7 is a perspective view illustrating a tube stapled on a support by the use of the present stapling machine.

vBefore the stapling machine here illustrated is specically described, it is to be understood that the invention here involved is not limited to the details of construction or the speoic arrangement of parts here illustrated-for described, as the invention obviously may rtake other forms, It also is to be understood that the terminology or phraseology herein employed is for the purpose of description and notv of limitation, the

scope of the present invention being denoted by the appended claim.

Since the invention here to be described relates more particularly to the vform or shape of the staple driving tool and its size and relation to the staple itself and to the article t0 be mounted or secured, the particular means and manner of mounting and operating the staple driving tool require very little description, as they may be of ordinary or usual form. The particular stapling machine shown in the ldra-wing in general is of the same form illustrated, described and claimed in Letters Patent No. 1,996,640, granted April. 2, 1935 to YFrancis M. Case for Stapling/machine, .to which reference may be had for further description. if necessary or desirable. The ma.

chine illustrated is of the portable hand Operatedtype, sometimes called tackers desienedftoranplication by one hand in proper position with reference to and upon the articleto be secured. the stapling operation being performed by pressure or impact of the other hand upon the head of the staple driving plunger. Any arrangement suitable for operation in this way may be employed. In the drawing, the machine is shown as including the usual frame or housing I having a nose portion, marked generally 2, which exposes at the bottom of the frame a bearing plate or member 3 designed and arranged to be applied directly to the surface of the article to be mountedor ,secured -at the place where vthe stapling operation is' tobe performed. v

In said frame or housing I is mounted a Ver- CTI tically movable operating plunger 4 to which the 1 plate form driving tool 5 is attached, said plunger being biased upwardly by the usual compression ,spring 6, and at its upper end beingprovidedwith a suitable head 'I designedto receive the pressure' direction transverse to the length of the slot or mouth II, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

As best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, each staple of the gang or strip of staples is of generally channel form, the staples being made of wire, usually of rectangular cross section and each being provided with parallel side legs I5 connected by a substantially straight cross bridge or crown portion I6. As is usual, the staples are adapted to straddle the tube or other. article I3 to be mountedupon or'attached totherbase or support I2, the attachment of such article to said base or support being effected by deformation of said vstaples in a manner to effect a very firm attachment Vof said article and with no liabilityof crushing or otherwise damaging or marring said article.

or impact of the hand or first. Withinthe housf ing or frame I is located the usual magazine guide or track 8 along which ride the staples 9 to be driven..` 'I'hese preferably are.- inthe common gang form, many being secured together byv adhesiveiin parallel channel form relation, as shown in Fig. 1. The staples are-advanced'by the usual spring-pressed follower I0 so that the leading staple lies beneath the lower end of the driving tool in the guiding channel` therefor, ready'to be sheared oi from the gang when the plunger and driving toolz is. depressed,.and .thus to be (driven intoxthel base-.orrsupport for the article to'be mounted or secured, the bearing plate 3 being provided lwith a slot vor mouth IIl (Fig. 3)A through which thegdriving tool propelsthe staple into the base or support, as will be readilyv understood.

The-present machine is particularly designed for` use ,wherever it is desirable to attachsto a suitablebasezor support made of any material intowhich the `legs of thestaple may bepushed., such as p asteboard, leather, wood orthe like,.a relatively long narrow varticle of rod, bar or pencil form and made of any material, such as wood, metal, glass or the like. Thus the present ma chine-maybe particularly built or designed for use in attaching a glass thermometer rod toa wood or pasteboard base, 'or for securing to a wooden 4baror slat, the lowercoil or turn of a spiral hourglass or other bed'spring; 'Ihearticle to be mountedon or secured to thebase or support may be either solid o r hollow, and may be of any cross section, such as round, square, triangular, oblong or the like,.a glass tube I3 being shown in Fig. .5 as stapled to a base or support I2 jn Fg.5 .r A

Bausethese tackers usually are designed for a, particular -job or task, such as the rvattachment ofthe glass tube shown in Fig.' 5, thebearing plate S, exposed at the bottom `ro fthenose of the stapler, andthrough Awhich the driving tool pro-v trudes in". operation, preferably is designed v4or shaped to iit the article to be mounted or secured; both to simplify.` application of the tool to said article in the proper position and also lto locatethe tool more or less.- accurately `on accountvofv the small size of the article, In the arrangement shown, Athe lower surface of the bearingl plate 3 is provided with'a channelor groove AIII shapedV to correspondV with 4the Kparticular tube ;I`3 and' of.

a depth approximatelyjequal to the external diameterof saidft'ubeyor slightl'yfgreater.- In theform of stapler vshown and Vadapted for use'r on articles' oflthe characterillu'stra'ted in Fig'.'5','the'v channlor groveId includes a' semicylindrical" 0 1" arched upper'portion Midland straight side' -Inv the; arrangement shown, the staple driving tool 5 is a metal plate whose thickness is approximately the same as that of each staple. At its lower or operating end, said tool/is provided with an open ended recess I I best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and which is of approximately the same shape as a cross section of the channel I 4, to-wit, having an upper semi-circular portion and straight side walls. YThis recess I1 is atleast as wide hori.. Zontally and atleast as deep vertically as the corresponding throughdimensions of the article with which the stapler is to be employed, but the recessl I7 is nevertheless narrower than the total'width of the end ofthe driving tool so that it provides the tool with two downwardly vextending driving arms I8, each presenting downwardly an elongated narrow-horizontal surface I9, the two surfaces being inalinement with each other but separated'by the width of recess I'I.

In use of the stapler, it .is applied, in the man# ner shown in Figs'. l and 4, to the article to be mounted or secured, lsaid views showing the parts of the vstapler ready 'foroperation -The staple driving tool is in retracted position with each of its operating armsl lying above the upper'end of one of the staple legs,lbut the operating surface I9 at the lower end of each armA islonger than the width of thestaple leg, so that the operating end of each tool-driving 'arm overlaps or backof thin work.

When pressure oran impact is appliedLto"theV head I of the operating plunger, thedriving tool 5 moves down, vsh'earfsrorr breaks oi` lthe ,leading s taplefrom the vgang and pushes it'down in the guiding channel, driving its legs'` into the material of the base or support I2; jflhisoperation continuesuntil the parts reach the position shown in Fig. 5, in which the staple crown or vbridge I6 has contacted with ,the'upper surface of the 'tubef I3.;' Of course, downward Amovement ofjthe' plungerandtool 4does not'cease at this point, but continues' until the p artsfreachthe position shownfin Fig; 6, wherethe -arms of the driving tool have been halted bytheba'se or s 1 1pport |2. Further advance of the' driving; tool is. thus arrested, which prevents any impact 'thereof with the article I3, such'as might break it if itisof glasafasit here is :Inf-the eral pasadena,

parts, that portion of each of the staple legs which in Fig. 5 had not entered the base or support I2, and those portions of the staple crown or bridge on either side of the tube I3, have been pressed down and indented or molded to an inverted form, as shown at A.

It will be observed that in effect, the length ofthe staple crown has been increased by including therein a portion taken from the upper end of each staple leg. The wire of the central portion of the staple crown has been more or less closely molded to U-form so that it closely hugs the tube or other article I'3, and the horizontal crown portions are applied closely to the surface of the base or support I2 and are pressed against or even partly into the same. This provides very secure anchorage of the article I3 to the base or support I2 with no tendency for relative lateral or horizontal movement. The staple legs are spaced apart suiciently to avoid splitting of the base or support I2 to which the article I3 is stapled, and inasmuch as substantially no pressure is applied to such article by the staple driving tool, there is no liability of crushing or otherwise damaging such article, even if it is a fragile glass tube.

By applying a series of staples at intervals, as shown in Fig. '7, an elongated article, such as a rod, bar, tube, or pencil may be very firmly secured to an underlying support.

The stapling machine described is oi simple form, is capable of construction in quantities at low cost, and the operating parts are strong, durable and not likely to get out of order in service. It is readily and accurately applied to the article to be stapled and when operated, it produces very secure attachment of said article to a base or support.

Further advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

A stapling machine for more or less permanently attaching an elongated cylindrical member to the surface of a supporting member by means of a staple having substantially parallel straight legs spaced apart by a substantially straight connecting crown portion which is longer than the diameter of said cylindrical member, comprising a frame provided with staple guiding means, said frame being so formed and arranged that when the machine is applied to the work the staple is presented thereto with its legs straddling but each spaced from said cylindrical member, and a driving tool slidable in said frame in a direction parallel to the legs of the staple to be driven, said tool being of platelike form and having at the middle of its working edge an open recess provided with straight parallel side edges and an arched semi-circular upper portion and being approximately as wide and deep as the diameter of said cylindrical member but shorter than said working edge, to thereby present to the end portions of the staple crown above the spaced legs the working edge portions of two alined driving arm portions of equal width, spaced apart by the width of said open recess, whereby the driving tool by impact upon the crown end portions of the staple drives the lower end portions of the staple legs into the supporting member, bends the crown end portions inwardly around the cylindrical member, and bends a like upper portion of each staple leg at right angles to the leg and drives it into contact with the surface of said supporting member, thereby preventing any crushing or breaking impact upon the cylindrical member.

HAROLD s. HELLER. 

